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The Arts

International Authors to Read at Kirkwood

By October 22, 2012November 15th, 2018No Comments
feed your mind with books

Feed your mind

This free event is Thursday, Oct. 25, at 11 a.m. in 234 Cedar Hall

Three distinguished international authors will bring readings from their home countries to Kirkwood Community College this week. The authors, two from the Middle East and one from Africa, come to Iowa as a part of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP).

Each year Kirkwood hosts authors from the IWP for readings on campus. This year’s reading will be Thursday, October 25, at 11 a.m. in 234 Cedar Hall. The program is free and open to the public.

TJ Dema, a poet and editor from Botswana, is the former chair of the Writers’ Association of Botswana. She focuses a lot on the spoken word. Dema is a member of the Sonic Slam Chorus and runs Sauti Arts and Performance Management. She produced a multilingual CD, “Dreaming is a Gift for Me,” featuring 12 poets from Botswana.

Rodrigo Garcia Lopes, a poet and translator from Brazil, has published five poetry collections. His poems, essays and interviews have been widely published and anthologized. His second CD, a new book of poems and a first novel, are forthcoming this year. A freelance journalist and translator, he co-edits an arts magazine, and performs his poems and songs regularly around Brazil.

Mohib Zegham is the author of two short story collections, three children’s books and two novels. He is a practicing cardiologist in Kabul, Afghanistan. The translator and fiction writer regularly translates medical articles, psychology works and children’s literature. Zegham is the editor of a cultural magazine and directs a children’s book publishing house.

The International Writing Program is a unique conduit for the world’s literatures, connecting well-established writers from around the globe, bringing international literature into classrooms, introducing American writers to other cultures through reading tours, and serving as a clearinghouse for literary news and a wealth of archival and pedagogical materials.